The present invention is directed generally to a method for the quantitative determination of mastitis, an inflammation of the udder of a cow. The method is based upon measuring the increased trypsin-inactivating effect of milk.
Mastitis, as an inflammatory process, produces an increased permeability between the blood and milk compartments, resulting in extravasation of plasma proteins, including .alpha..sub.1 -antitrypsin, into the milk, which produces the increased trypsin-inactivating effect.
The more important methods currently used for determining and detecting inflammation of the udder are based on bacteriology and on the determination of the number of cells in a milk sample.
These methods are disadvantageous since the apparatus required for determining and counting the cells is expensive, difficult to use, and requires substantial maintenance. Furthermore, this apparatus is available only at the largest research laboratories of the dairy industry. Also, storage of milk samples for counting and determining the cells is technically inconvenient and requires special operations. The number of cells measured from the milk sample may be influenced by factors other than the disease, depending on the time and mode of taking the sample. Finally, it has not been possible to reliably perform an inter-teat examination for detecting mastitis. Thus, the detection of latent inflammation of the udder has been highly uncertain.
The search has continued for new and improved methods of determining mastitis. This invention was made as a result of that search.